From 16 January to 7 February, Cameroon hosted the African Nations Championship. Some games were played in the town of Limbe in the South-West region, which is in the grip of an armed conflict between government forces and secessionist militias.

The absence of secessionist violence during the championship may have given the impression that the Anglophone crisis had been resolved – but that isn’t true.

After four years of conflict, the figures are telling: refugees rose from 20 485 in January 2018 to 63 235 in January 2021. In November 2020, the number of internally displaced people stood at 705 000 compared to 679 000 a year earlier. This is paradoxical as secessionist armed groups have struggled to exert military control over the North-West and South-West regions, even if their social hold is real.

Cameroon and neighbouring countries

Defense and security forces have managed to contain secessionist groups’ territorial footprint, particularly in urban centres. National forces are using people’s fear of the separatists’ criminal activities against these groups.

Despite these favourable developments, the growing number of refugees and displaced people indicates a volatile security situation in the regions. Moreover, Cameroon’s partners are increasing the pressure on the government to find a political solution. Local political actors and activists seeking to embarrass the government have echoed these calls.

Cameroon’s approach to the crisis has always encompassed both political and military dimensions.

At stake here is the quality of the political agreement on offer and the impact of solutions favoured by the Cameroonian government to date. Although the military has achieved results, abuses against alleged separatists by security forces have tarnished Cameroon’s reputation internationally. The government’s prioritisation of military responses has probably swollen the ranks of secessionists to the detriment of those actors advocating for a federal state as the solution.

Any political solution must prioritise the active minorities who are preventing the return of stability

Up to 2016, most English-speaking citizens favoured a Cameroonian nation, regardless of the political regime. Today it’s clear that prioritising military action won’t resuscitate the fragile sense of national belonging of many English-speaking Cameroonians. Instead, the military response has likely crystallised the ‘imagined English-speaking community,’ which will undermine any recent gains in the future.

Cameroon’s efforts at finding a political solution haven’t been fruitful. Separatist fever persists despite various efforts such as commissions to promote bilingualism and multiculturalism, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, the establishment of a special status for English-speaking regions, and sentencing separatist leaders.

Both the method and scope of these measures are to blame. Rather than holding talks with the insurgents, the government came up with the steps unilaterally. The national dialogue organised in October 2019 also suffered from a lack of prior consultation. Any political agreement will need the support of a majority of stakeholders to be sustainable.

A lasting solution to the Anglophone crisis requires a change in Cameroonian political practice, which is based on the myth that the government and civil service are infallibile. Government officials see themselves as above the people, who they consider as subjects to be ‘administered’ rather than citizens who can manage their own affairs.

Few secessions have resulted from military victories, but rather a shift in external political dynamics

In terms of scope, the political handling of the Anglophone crisis has mostly followed the ‘administrative’ path that characterises Yaoundé’s political culture. Indeed, the symbolic provisions of the English-speaking regions’ special status were considered inadequate because they benefited only the administrative elites concerned.

The conflict in the North-West and South-West isn’t driven by these elites but by poor and relatively educated young men. These youth are determined to fight with rudimentary weapons against well-armed and trained defense forces. They also clash with elites who they accuse of having little concern for their fate. Any viable political solution must prioritise these active minorities who prevent the return of stability in the former Southern Cameroons.

Military successes shouldn’t lead Cameroon into complacency. South Sudan’s experience indicates that few secessions in Africa have resulted from military victories but rather a shift in external political dynamics. Cameroon faces a situation in which military gains are nullified by mounting pressures for political negotiations from outside the country.

To date, Cameroon’s fight against separatist forces has benefited from the leniency and even cooperation of the Nigerian government leadership. There is no guarantee that this situation will endure, particularly as the new United States administration could take a tougher stance on human rights.

Recent military gains are likely to be nullified by external pressure for political negotiations

To revive national cohesion, Cameroon’s government needs a political solution that encourages active minorities to lay down their arms and turn away from secession. For this to happen, the administrative half-measures put in place must end, and the problem treated with more than lip-service and slogans. Rejecting a return to federalism in the name of territorial integrity is one such slogan often used by civil servants and government representatives.

More than ever, dialogue with all sectors of the English-speaking minority and even the option of federalism must be on the table. Cameroon must avoid sacrificing national cohesion for the obsession with formal territorial integrity. Instead, the country needs innovative ways to forge unity and celebrate its cultural diversity. Cameroonians themselves must reinvent this new form of living together.

Culled from IssAfrica.org

The Southern Cameroonian rebellion which has been robbing the Yaounde government of its sleep is gradually stallling not because Southern Cameroonians are tired of fighting those who have polluted their lives for more than half a century, but because some of those who are supposed to point the population in the right direction have simply lost their way.

Of course, the revolution has received major setbacks, especially with the arrest of the Southern Cameroonian president, Julius Ayuk Tabe, whose leadership had galvanized the entire population of Southern Cameroons both at home and abroad during his short time at the helm of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

During his time, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe spent his own money to carry out certain missions, though Southern Cameroonians were pouring money into the Interim Government accounts as their way of supporting those on Ground Zero who were taking the brunt of the Yaounde regime’s anger.

Southern Cameroonians in Australia, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, Germany, France, Belgium, the USA, the UK and Canada gave huge sums of money to enable the Interim Government to function properly and to sell the Southern Cameroonian’s sorry plight to the international community.

Mr. Julius Ayuk Tabe’s effective charm offensive designed to bring the conflict in Southern Cameroons to the fore was never in doubt. His trips abroad informed the world that Cameroon’s English-speaking minority was being marginalized to extinction.

He took risks and the Southern Cameroonian population saw him and still sees him as the poster boy of a revolution that will not be going away anytime soon though some issues have cast doubts on the quality of some of those who pass off as leaders of the revolution.

Once Mr. Ayuk Tabe was arrested, a new interim administration was given the mantel of leadership. Southern Cameroonians were looking forward to seeing the same quality of leadership that Mr. Ayuk Tabe had demonstrated, but they were very disappointed because the interim government, led by Sako Ikome and Chris Anu, was a gross mistake that has become a long nightmare that will not be going away anytime soon.

Millions of Southern Cameroonians are still not believing lots of things and many hold that a miracle could still occur and that Dr. Sako Ikome and his cohort could still engineer something that could leave the Yaounde government in a state of fear.

But Dr. Sako and his friend, Chris Anu, lack what it takes to strike fear in a government that has already been brought to its knees by courageous Southern Cameroonian fighters.

The inefficiency of the Sako interim government and the embezzlement of the people’s resources engineered by Chris Anu have simply stemmed the flow of money into their coffers and this has impacted their ability to operate freely, although they have successfully embezzled some USD 1.250 million from the people’s coffers.

In terms of morality, President Julius Ayuk Tabe had raised the bar way too high for morally bankrupt and attention seeking criminals to operate without the people seeing through them.

While the people of Southern Cameroons cannot throw this capital gang of criminals in jail, they can punish them financially and they have simply stopped putting their money in unsafe hands and this is hurting the Sako Ikome limping interim government.

But instead of addressing the real issues that have caused the people to lose confidence in Sako Ikome and his team, Chris Anu has resorted to chasing shadows instead of the object.

He has successfully recruited Barrister John Fru Nsoh, a miscreant who missed the dangerous police nets of the  Yaounde government and now erroneously holds that President Julius Ayuk Tabe is the source of his problems, including his incurable erectile dysfunction and diabetes.

Both John Fru Nsoh and Chris Anu have transformed Mr. Ayuk Tabe into their favorite punching bag. They seem to hold him responsible for their interminable financial issues in the United States.

The people of Southern Cameroons are not going to give Chris Anu their money and it is not their reckless and purposeless punching of a man who placed the people’s interest above his that will change the minds of Southern Cameroonians.

The people of Southern Cameroons have never admired rogues and it should be known that their disdain for the Yaounde government derives from the corruption and embezzlement that are indeed the hallmarks of a government led by a dying 88-year-old president.

They cannot be frowning at such indiscipline just to smile at a bunch of lazy and helpless pastors – Chris Anu and Sako Ikome – who before the crisis could not even afford a used car but are now driving top-of-the-line vehicles.

While they are enjoying their loot, John Fru Nsoh, a man who should be back in Cameroon to put his legal knowledge at the service of the insurgency, is hoping that the two Hell-bound pastors will one day extend their hand of charity to him.

He has been holding briefs for them and to demonstrate that he is loyal, he has been publicly insulting Sisiku Ayuk Tabe albeit in a strain of English that leaves much to be desired.

Many Southern Cameroonians are really surprised why Chris Anu and his unemployed barrister have decided to make Mr. Ayuk Tabe their target instead of a government that is hellbent on maintaining them in the stress of exile.

For the people of Southern Cameroons, the Yaounde government is their enemy and seeing Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh taking aim at a man who does not even call their names is at best worrisome.

Southern Cameroonians cannot and will never be distracted by this duo that has missed its way. Chris Anu and Sako Ikome might have dealt the revolution a blow, by embezzling the money that was earmarked for arms, but the people of Southern Cameroons remain steadfast to their dream of having an independent country and they prefer to put their money in the right hands.

They clearly hold that it is better to send the money to the fighters on the ground who are giving the country’s army soldiers a run for their money.

Targeting President Julius Ayuk Tabe is not only morally wrong, it is outright insane, especially as Southern Cameroonians still see Yaounde as the source of their problem.

Why would any sane Southern Cameroonian ever single out a dying Achidi Achu as his target when it is clear that the Yaounde government is that target any and every Southern Cameroonians should be fighting against? This will be stupidity in its superlative degree. Southern Cameroonians should not be confused here. Why spend a lot of energy on a man who has been jailed in a sick and old body in his native Santa why there are Yaounde army soldiers all over Southern Cameroons and they are maiming and killing Southern Cameroonians with impunity?

The focus for now should be the fighting on the ground and not President Julius Ayuk Tabe who will never betray the aspirations of the people of Southern Cameroons.

President Julius Ayuk Tabe is in jail and the enemy is not even mulling the possibility of releasing him and his collaborators. So why the obsession about a man who is still faithful to his principles and to the people of Southern Cameroons? What crime has he committed that makes Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh to be insulting him on a daily basis?

This is the time for all Southern Cameroonians of good will to come together in order to mount enormous pressure on a government that is grossly insensitive to the plight of the Southern Cameroonian.

Instead of spreading hate and division, can Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh understand that they are in exile not because of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, but because of a government that has already killed more than 5,000 Southern Cameroonians in a conflict that could have been simply avoided?

What value are Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh adding to the rebellion by punching President Ayuk Tabe even when he is down? Will their continuous divisive strategy and actions ever lead to an independent Southern Cameroons?

It is time for Southern Cameroonians to take a long and hard look at those who pass off as their leaders. Genuine leaders unite. They wash their dirty linen at home and not in public. They know how to place the general interest above personal interest and they are usually driven by the desire to achieve results. Do Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh really fit this mould? It is up to the Southern Cameroonian to make this decision, but time is of the essence. A reasonable people do not chase shadows. They chase the objects.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests – was a phrase coined by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. This adage, controversial as it may sound, is consistent with the foreign policies of most nations.

On 9 March 2021, the UK government announced a trade deal with Cameroon. The statement on the UK government website reads: “The trade deal, which will support jobs and build future prosperity, was signed by International Trade Minister, Ranil Jayawardena, and Cameroon’s High Commissioner to the UK, H.E. Albert Fotabong Njoteh in London. The deal provides certainty for British and Cameroonian businesses, ensuring they can continue to trade as freely as they do now without any additional barriers or tariffs.”

Cameroon is a country of 25 million people and has been ruled with an iron-fist by 88-year-old strongman, Paul Biya, since 1982. From 1919 to 1961, Britain ruled part of Cameroon known as British Southern Cameroons, first as a League of Nations mandate and later as a United Nations (UN) Trusts Territory. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and about 8 million of its citizens identify English as their first international language due to the country’s colonial past.

Since 2016, the country has been mired in a fierce civil war between the regime in Yaoundé and pro-independence groups from the two English-speaking regions of the country.

 Last year, the Norwegian Refugee Council, which follows the crisis closely, termed the war the most neglected displacement crisis on the planet. With more than half a million people internally displaced, 740,000 children have been out of school for the last four years, over 120,000 refugees in Nigeria, the end of the conflict is not near.

The conflict has claimed over 4,000 lives but there is a deafening silence about the crisis in the arena of international politics.

Reports of human rights abuses have been well documented. According to Rights Africa, in 2019 the overall tally of human rights violations was 1,380 up from 1,134 the previous year.

Last year, Amnesty International published a report with graphic images of systematic abuses by Cameroon’s army titled Cameroon’s secret torture chambers.

Last week, a Human Rights Watch report said “An attack by Cameroonian soldiers on March 1, 2020, has come to light in which soldiers raped at least 20 women, including four with disabilities, arrested 35 men, and killed one man. The attack on the village of Ebam in the South-West region was one of the worst by Cameroon’s army in recent years.”

In 2019, the Trump administration cut millions of dollars in security and military aid to Cameroon following concerns over the regime’s human rights record.

On 1 January 2021, the US Senate passed a resolution that condemned the abuses committed by state security forces and armed groups in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon.

Human Rights groups and the United Nations have proof of villages being burned down, women and children executed, and war crimes committed by the army but the UK government has not issued a single statement condemning these appalling actions.

 How can the United Kingdom be indifferent to these human rights abuses and state-sponsored killings?

With its exit from the EU, there has been much talk of Global Britain. Is Global Britain designed to be blind to such flagrant violations of human rights?

For the people in the territory of the former British Southern Cameroons, this announcement must be a huge disappointment and a clear message that this former colonial master values £200 million worth of annual business than thousands of lives.

In September 2013, the UK became the first country to set out guidance to companies on integrating human rights into their operations.

The then Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said “doing business with respect for human rights matters. It is good for people, for prosperity, and for the UK. We believe firmly that the promotion of business and respect for human rights should go hand in hand.”

Yesterday’s announcement has taken the UK backward from that noble commitment.

Global Britain must take the lead in condemning human rights abuses around the world not shrinking away from it or be indifferent to it.

The statement from the UK government claimed the trade deal secured opportunities for both British and Cameroonian businesses.  The poor and abused people in Southern Cameroons and the families of the people executed by Mr.Biya’s regime will disagree.

They will see this as the government of Cameroon given a carte-blanche by the UK to commit more and more atrocities. The politics of Africa is that of leaders who heap misery upon their people with very little economic progress and no intention of relinquishing power.

The rich continent of Africa is a playground for regimes that have no respect for international norms or the human rights of their citizens.  The UK must take the lead in demanding change in these nations as a pre-requisite for access to the lucrative UK market.

By Isong Asu, London bureau chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

The Paris-based Jeune Afrique has made a reputation of speaking for Southern Cameroons-La Republique du Cameroun peace. The French language media house has recently published several damaging human rights reports and corruption scandals against the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

French Cameroun civil servants passing for political elites who have never served in the army are accusing Jeune Afrique of destabilizing their so-called one and indivisible Cameroon.

However, sitting Thursday in the Kondengui High Security Prison in Yaoundé with the leader of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia,President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Jeune Afrique will again take several machine gun bullets in the stomach from government officials of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

The Southern Cameroons chief executive told Jeune Afrique in this soul-searching conversation that Mr Biya’s government will stop at nothing in trying to deceive the world.

Jeune Afrique: How do you feel after 3 years and 2 months of incarceration?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:  Imprisonment is not a good thing no matter the conditions. Freedom is always better. My team and I feel bad that as Refugees and Asylum-seekers in Nigeria, since 5th January 2018, when we were abducted in Nera Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, we now find ourselves imprisoned and sentenced for life in Cameroun. This, in complete violation of all international and national laws and conventions! Despite the Abuja High Court Judgement of the 1^st of March 2019 that ruled that we be returned to Nigeria, discharged, acquitted, and compensated. However, our quest for a free and independent Ambazonia supersedes our persons. So, if this is the price, we must pay for Ambazonia to be independent and free, we would all do so willingly.   

Jeune Afrique: On the 20^th of August 2019, the Military Tribunal Yaoundé condemned you and 9 members of your Team to Life Imprisonment. Did you appeal against the judgement? If you did, what became of the Appeal?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: In a sham trial on August 20, 2019,I and the 9 members of my team were given a Life Imprisonment sentence by the Tribunal Militaire Yaoundé in what has remained the most inequitable, unfair, and ridiculous Judgement ever given by a court of law. The court started hearing in Capital Offenses proceedings and completed same to judgement without giving the Accused persons opportunity to have legal assistance or even to be heard and delivered judgment in front of us without as much as even touching or reading any of the pieces of evidence that were admitted into court without any respect for procedures and laws. The court illegally used public speech support system with loudspeakers of more than 100000 watts and the witnesses who testified were all standing at the door of the court following up the proceedings! One of the Accused persons collapsed in court and the Court went ahead with him lying helpless on a bench in court throughout the trial. The trial marked the height of injustice by a court of law on a people. There were so many illegalities that only our lawyers can talk to you about.

We filed an Appeal to the Appeal Court of Centre Region, Yaoundé. On September 19, 2020, the Appeal Court, in like manner went ahead with proceedings in French language before us without any translators, denied our lawyers and us any opportunity to talk and delivered judgement within less than 20 minutes of hearing, confirming the Decision of the Yaoundé Military Tribunal.

The peoples of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia since invasion and occupation on the 30^th of September 1961 by La République du Cameroun, LRC, have never had Justice in Cameroun. This has been our painful experience till date.

We have filed a notice of appeal to the supreme court as their laws require, but till date we have had no feedback. This of course is not surprising as we do not expect to have justice on an international issue from a domestic and corrupt system like that of Cameroun.  

Jeune Afrique: The government has often maintained that due to the many stakeholders involved in the conflict and that these various stakeholders do not cherish peace and dialogue, that there is no one to talk to. Do you subscribe to this assessment?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:   Mr Biya’s government will stop at nothing in trying to deceive the world. Such statements by the government of LRC are meant to buy time while exploring military options, with the hope that her military will come out victorious, which is a fallacy. Ambazonians will resist to the last man standing. The people of the Southern Cameroons, (also known as Ambazonia) are a peace-loving people. They want peace at all cost. Remember, that in 1958 Southern Cameroons had a democratic election and a peaceful transfer of power during their period of self-rule under British trusteeship. The people still have and cherish these values.  However, there can be no peace without justice. If Mr Biya claims he does not know whom to talk to, then why were we abducted from Nigeria in January 2018? Every house has its own problems including LRC. Yes, just like in all other conflicts, there are several stakeholders in this conflict. On our side we know ourselves and have a common goal. This makes it difficult for the LRC government to corrupt one of these factions and have their way, as it is their stock in trade. It is not for them to decide whom to talk to. The people of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia are ready for talks. They know their leaders and will constitute their team themselves for this purpose. No one will hand pick for them. The Ambazonian team will be all-inclusive. Let Mr. Biya do what is needed by: i) Withdrawing all his forces from our streets; ii) Freeing all prisoners; iii) Granting general amnesty to those in the Diaspora; and iv) Committing to an international mediated negotiation, in a neutral venue; and Ambazonians will be there. Anything short of these, Mr Biya will be talking to himself.

Jeune Afrique: In light of the UNSC Resolution 2565 calling for a cease fire, will you be willing to denounce violence, call for a ceasefire and continue your revolution in a nonviolent way?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: UNSC Resolution 2565 calling for a ceasefire is a welcome development that could stop the genocide Mr Biya’s government is committing in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. We remember there was a similar one last year, but Mr Biya shunned it. Let it be on record that the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia are not violently opposing Mr Biya. They are acting only in self-defence. Proof of this is that there has not been any encroachment into the French Cameroun Territory to attack anyone. The war that is ravaging us was declared by Mr Biya on the 30^th of November 2017. The onus is on him to declare a ceasefire of the war he declared. Our Restoration Forces came on board to defend our vulnerable population a long time after Mr Biya’s declared war on us and was pursuing an ethnic cleansing and genocide agenda on the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. Once Mr Biya declares a ceasefire and commits to the four points highlighted above, we can assure you, the killings will stop.

Jeune Afrique: The government of La République du Cameroun thinks that the Secessionists have been totally defeated, is that true?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: For the records, we are not secessionist but restorationists. A secessionist from LRC is anyone who want to change/reduce the nation whose independence was obtained on the 1^st of January 1960. On that date Buea was not part of LRC, neither was Bamenda. The Southern Cameroons got its independence on the 1^st of October 1961, 20 months after LRC’s. Anyone who thinks to the contrary has the burden of brandishing the union treaty between the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun. We are merely appealing to the international Community, particularly the UN to restore legality and truth in our relationship with La République du Cameroun, as per UN Resolutions, 1514(XV); 1608 and Article 76(b) of the UN Charter.

With regards to LRC government’s claim that we have been totally defeated, this is not the first time we are hearing that from them. They should match their words with reality. Remember their denial of Ngarbuh Massacre and many others. The war has been raging unabated for 4 years now. Under his instructions and watch Mr Biya’s forces have embarked on committing genocide in the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia. The world silently watches as this goes on, in complete disregard of the R2P commitment and the Never Again Promise after the 1993/94 Genocide in Rwanda. We are bothered if the war continues for a long time because of the lives of our people killed every day by Cameroun military forces,but until Mr Biya and his colonial forces leave our territory, for us, it is “TOTAL INDEPENDENCE OR RESISTANCE FOREVER.

Jeune Afrique: In January 2019, your lawyer said that you are ready to negotiate directly with the Cameroun Président, Paul Biya, on the condition that the Negotiations take place out of Cameroun. According to our sources, you have started negotiations with some High Authorities of Cameroun, … Can you confirm this?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: While we have always been willing and ready for talks, we have not held any negotiations with La République du Cameroun. It is not in our interest to talk to Mr Biya directly. We are interested in La Republique du Cameroun coming to the table as an equal partner with Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. However, we have had some consultative overtures with some of their envoys and we clearly expressed 4 cardinal confidence-building measures, that can lead to any negotiations with them. These measures included:

1. Withdrawing all his forces from our streets.
2. Freeing ALL persons arrested and detained or imprisoned on account of the conflict.
3. Granting general amnesty to all Ambazonians in the Diaspora; and
4. Committing to an international mediated negotiation, in a neutral venue.

Once these measures are implemented, we will consult with the other Ambazonian leaders and prepare for the negotiations with LRC.

Jeune Afrique: Why have the negotiations not ended/succeeded?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Negotiations have not started because the government of LRC is yet to address the 4 confidence-building measures put forward to them. Once these measures are implemented, we are sure the negotiations will start and progress, in good faith.

Jeune Afrique: US Senate passed RES. 684 calling for a genuine and inclusive dialogue, but the Cameroun government claims that they already had the Grand National Dialogue (GND).  Do you agree with the recommendations of GND and if not why?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: The so called Grand National Dialogue by LRC was a meeting of Mr Biya’s contemporaries and committee of friends that endorsed the agenda of the ruling party. It was a charade and a monologue. To us, the GND was a non-event, a waste of time and resources. Mr Biya was talking to himself. Almost two years after the GND there is basically nothing to showcase.

We are opened to talks but that must be only when the confidence building measures have been implemented and we must talk as equal partners as was previewed in UN Resolution 1608.

Jeune Afrique: You have consistently called for a UN Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to Southern Cameroons. Can you explain why this is necessary and what it will achieve?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Our call has been consistent for a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. For 4 years and counting Mr Biya, his military and their private militias have been committing genocide in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. As we speak reports are claiming more than 32,500+ civilians have been killed; over a million children are out of school; 550+ villages have been razed down, 3,000+ are presently in detention centres and prisons; hundreds of our women and girls have been raped; thousands of our loved ones are missing. The Norwegian Refugees Commission (NRC) has stated two years in a roll that this is the world’s most under-reported crisis – obviously because Mr Biya and his team block access to the international world and are shielding and trying to clean up the crimes they are committing in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. Remember they or their militias most often commit heinous crimes and accuse our Restoration Forces. A UN mandated Fact-Finding Mission is a very vital, important, and absolutely necessary tool to investigate and unravel the gravity of the atrocities being committed there.

A UNSC mandated Fact-Finding Mission will be independent, reliable, unbiased, and professional in information search, analysis, and dissemination. Their conclusions are genuine and could enable the UN to make valid judgement, take right decisions and implement them.  Information generated by the IFFM will determine the depth, degree, and severity of the war-crimes as well as action during the conflict on the peace-loving peoples of Ambazonia against perpetuators of such crimes and Human Right Abuses.

Jeune Afrique: Let’s come back to your life in prison; Are you treated fairly well? How do you spend your days? What do you read?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Like all other Ambazonians incarcerated in various Prisons in la République du Cameroun, we are under serious psychological trauma and at times subjected to very inhuman conditions. When we are sick and admitted in hospital, we are chained to hospital beds like it happened to Barrister Shufai Blaise Berinyuy and especially Brother Thomas Tangem who died handcuffed to a hospital bed. We take care of our feeding and medications, etc. In a nutshell, our conditions in prison are deplorable.

We pass our days reading the various books that we are able to secure, given that the Prison Authorities denied us access to books the ICRC Yaounde had promised to give us. In addition to regular exercise to keep us healthy and fit, we also play games like Monopoly, Chess, Scrabble and Drafts.

Jeune Afrique:  Any last word?

President Sisisku Ayuk Tabe: Yes, I would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to all our people who have loss and are continuing to lose loved ones in this senseless war declared on us by Mr. Biya. I want to thank all Ambazonians for remaining steadfast and holding the fort. As Ambazonians, each one of us has a one-way ticket to Buea. We will either get the independence that is rightly ours or we would resist our oppressors forever. The pain or death our oppressors subject us to, are momentary compared to the freedom we are seeking for Ambazonia. None is more difficult to defeat than he/she who is ready to give everything including his/her life for a cause. In our quest to restore our Statehood, we should focus our gaze on the prize ahead. Each and every one should accurately measure his/her words and actions to ensure that we add no unnecessary pain on our people and that they take us one step closer to Buea. In a free Ambazonia, we will build world-class institutions that will make Ambazonia an icon of peace, democracy and stability, not only in the Gulf of Guinea but in Africa.

To the international Community, international law and conventions tell us self-determination is a fundamental right. The people of the Southern Cameroons have made their choice for an independent nation. We cannot be denied that right that is given to others freely. Remember the Never Again promise after Rwanda 1993/94 Genocide. Remember the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). With more than 32,500+ killed and the level of other atrocities meted on us, one more death is one too many. Act now to end the Genocide. Deploy a UNSC mandated Fact-Finding Mission to the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia as a first step to addressing the root-causes of the conflict, which hinges on the botched decolonization process of 1961. Thank you.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya celebrated his 88th birthday recently, making him the oldest president in Africa. He has been in power for 38 years. Birthday celebrations held across the country were met with protest by the opposition, demanding that he step down. So, how has he acquitted himself in office, and what has been his legacy for Cameroon?

Cameroonians welcomed Biya when he became president in November 1982. The peaceful transfer of power by his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo won Cameroon praise as an example to emulate in Africa, where leaders either held on to power for too long, through duplicity and violence, or were forced out.

Ahidjo was ruthless, authoritative, and vicious. He ruled by intimidation. Under him rivals were hunted down, tortured, killed, or forced into exile. He was the “source of all power in the state”.

Biya was seen as a breath of fresh air, and he stepped in saying the right things to different groups. He visited the nation’s Anglophone regions, spoke in English, and even referred to Bamenda, a major city in the Northwest region, as his “second home”. It was a marked difference from his predecessor, whose policies severely undermined English as a major part of the nation’s bilingualism.

Biya’s early actions were received with cheers. He pledged a “new deal” to restore integrity and eliminate corruption. He also announced that although he was of the Beti/Bulu ethnic group, he was born a Cameroonian and would govern as such.

His policies extended elementary and secondary education to rural areas. He allowed press freedom. In his book Communal Liberalism he emphasised the importance of creating a “more open, more tolerant and more democratic political society”.

But those promises and pronouncements were short-lived.

Hopes dashed

By the end of Biya’s first year in office, he had reverted to his predecessor’s tactics, a practice which intensified after the attempted coup in 1984.

He remade the nation’s only political party, Cameroon National Union, in his image, renaming it the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement. He packed his administration with people from his ethnic group and drove a solvent economy into insolvency.

His policies targeted and undermined groups like Bamilekes, Anglophones and Northerners.

He changed the name of the country from the United Republic of Cameroon to the Republic of Cameroon, a clear indication that Anglophone concerns did not matter.

He went to the World Bank and International Monitory Fund for help to revive an ailing economy. But, after three decades of intervention by these institutions, the economy remains on the brink of collapse.

The nation’s currency was devalued on his watch in 1994, bringing misery to many.

Corruption became endemic. Cameroon is often ranked as being among the most corrupt countries in the world.

Biya circumvents the country’s multiparty political system at will. He has repeatedly amended the constitution to tighten his grip on power. One amendment, in 2008, was to eliminate presidential term limits.

As a response to protests against excessive centralisation of decision making in Yaounde, Biya signed a decentralisation decree in 1996 to empower regional and local authorities. But 25 years later, that initiative has not been realised. Another failed initiative was the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism created in 2017 in response to the Anglophone protest. After billions of francs CFA were squandered, the commission has achieved nothing substantive.

Biya’s Achilles heel is the ongoing Anglophone crisis. He has overstayed his term in office, using underhand manoeuvres to cling to power.

His nearly four decades’ rule has robbed Cameroon of its credibility as a stable and peaceful country. Nations such as the US have repeatedly imposed advisory travel bans on Cameroon.

The true test of leadership

Four years ago, a peaceful protest against the marginalisation of English-speaking people turned violent as Biya’s military responded with arrests and torture.

Some responded with a call for secession of the Anglophone regions and created a virtual Ambazonia Republic. They formed a military wing, Ambazonia Defence Force, and used it to attack Biya’s military and disrupt economic and social services in the region.

My work in Cameroon brings me to the conclusion that the Anglophone crisis degenerated into violence because of miscalculations by Biya’s regime. The resulting crisis has devastated entire communities. The region’s economy has also been crippled, resulting in a wave of crime, and burning of businesses and public facilities.

Cameroon is now a no-go country in many respects.

Foreign policy success

My research shows that Biya’s most enduring achievement has been in his conduct of foreign policy. He remains influential in the African Union, and maintains good relations with France, the US and China.

Cameroon was part of the multinational joint task force which conducted military operations to contain Boko Haram. Biya was key in convincing major powers that Boko Haram posed a global threat.

He settled Cameroon’s conflict with Nigeria over the Bakassi Peninsula and placed relations between the nations on a good footing.

Biya also diversified foreign policy from a focus on France to expanding relations with China (though by 2007 he had begun to regret China’s economic domination in Cameroon). He has encouraged American businesses in Cameroon too.

Even after Cameroon was excluded from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a programme that allows African nations to export their goods to the US duty free, for human rights violations, US-Cameroon military collaboration continued.

Turning the tide

Given Biya’s unwillingness to step down from power, the global community needs to exert pressure on him to solve the Anglophone crisis.

The crisis exposes the hypocrisy and weaknesses of the current global system. The major powers make noises about human rights, yet fail to stop abuses by Biya’s government.

What happens with the Anglophone crisis may turn out to be the most significant determinant of Biya’s legacy.

Culled from The Conversation

Happy women’s day 2021 to all the women of Ambazonia (Takumbeng)

 Amongst many things, this day is a celebration of freedom. Freedom is important and inevitable for Ambazonia. It is my strong belief that this freedom will mean nothing if we are not united, at least in purpose.

 Our freedom will mean nothing if we do not free our minds to forgive and move on. It will amount to nought if we do not act with urgency to come together to liberate Ambazonia from the shackles of the ugly past to which her people have been subjected.

We have always felt the sense of loss which culminated in the need in 2017 to actively defend ourselves from genocide. The urgency of that moment brought us together. There is greater urgency today, in 2021, given the over 500 of our villages burned, over 4,000 of our people incarcerated, over 20,000 killed, over 200,000 as refugees in Nigeria and Ghana, over 1,500,000 displaced within the Homeland and in LRC and over 800,000 of our children out of school for four years and counting.

 You, our mothers, our wives, our sisters and our daughters have been exemplary in this struggle; doing everything to bring our people together towards our common goal – freedom for Ambazonia. You remain the cornerstone of the Ambazonian edifice. You are the reasons for which AMBAZONIA is succeeding. Thanks for your immeasurable sacrifices. Happy Is This Day To Celebrate You

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe

President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Rape has successfully been mischaracterized and dismissed by President Biya and his top military leaders in Yaoundé for more than three decades and in the last four years; the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has accepted rape precisely because it is so commonplace in Southern Cameroons.

Ever since President Paul Biya declared the war against the English speaking minority in Southern Cameroons, numerous reports of rape by Francophone soldiers from the renowned Human Rights Watch have been dismissed as a kind of propaganda coming from the Ambazonia Interim Government and the Southern Cameroons diaspora.

Responding to reports of widespread rape of women and teenage girls in Southern Cameroons, the Biya administration has either denied that the rapes are occurring or has blamed the Southern Cameroons victims for not cooperating with Cameroon government army soldiers.

To be sure, Paul Atanga Nji Minister of Territorial Administration who himself hails from British Southern Cameroons territory noted in a conversation with our undercover reporter that the rape allegations were made by the people of Southern Cameroons solely to attract sympathy and give the Biya government negative publicity.

A Francophone army general from Beti extraction and married to three wives said during a security briefing recently in Yaoundé that Cameroon government soldier conducting an operation at the dead of night in the North West and South West is unlikely to think of rape when he is not even certain if he will return alive as if soldiers that carryout rape must do so operating under safe conditions.

Francophone soldiers are motivated to rape precisely because rape serves the strategic interests of the Biya Francophone regime.

Several Southern Cameroons women are now openly recalling harrowing tales of sexual abuse in Bui, Menchum, Mezam, Ngoketunjia, Ndian, Kupe Munenguba, Meme, Manyu, Fako and Donga Matung counties.

For many, their bodies are still trembling while narrating what the Francophone soldiers did to them. Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from some of the women that at every moment, they were humiliated before the extreme sexual act.

Many English speaking Cameroonian women and teenage girls are now speaking of sexual abuse, ranging from exposition to extreme cavity searches. A lady in Weh-a locality not too far away from Wum, the chief town in the Menchum County said that she was subjected to sexual harassment for four days when Francophone soldiers stationed in Wum raided her village and she now has HIV.

In Etoko village in Manyu where two Francophone soldiers reportedly rape a 17 year old girl, she told a visiting Roman Catholic priest that “When I refused to take my kaba off, the two soldiers attacked me and ruptured my pants.”

Sexual abuses in Southern Cameroons are part of an organized Biya regime policy to infuse humiliation and torture against all Southern Cameroons families and detainees especially against women and children.

In French Cameroun detention centers such as the Kondengui High Security Prison in Yaoundé and the New Bell Prison in Douala, Francophone prison authorities have made sexual harassment a tool to put pressure on prisoners especially in the interrogation sessions. Many young women and girls in Southern Cameroons are now highly stressed and have lost their consciousness several times and many are also struggling to cope with the HIV virus.

In Kumba, a Francophone soldier deployed to Fiango who wanted sex with a teenage girl reportedly accused her of having a sexual relationship with the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme.

A very pretty GHS Mundemba female student was subjected to sexual harassment in an armored vehicle transfer between Mundemba and Ekondo Titi.

Our chief correspondent in Bamenda hinted that most Southern Cameroons women avoid talking about rape experiences with Francophone soldiers out of the fear of stigma, taking into consideration that the Ambazonia culture treats sex as a shame.

By Isong Asu in London

Systematic Rape as a means of French Cameroun warfare in Ambazonia

The Human Rights Watch report on Cameroon dated 26 February 2021 titled “Survivors of Military Assault Await Justice” was unambiguous and uncomplimentary on the actions and conduct of the Cameroon army. The report detailed the rape and abuse of more than 20 women by the Cameroon army in the village of Ebam in the South West Region of the country during raids carried out last year. The United States Embassy to Cameroon today released the following message: “The United States is deeply disturbed to learn of reports of a military raid in Ebam, Southwest Region, on March 1 of last year that resulted in violence against civilians. We condemn all violence in which civilians are targeted. We call for an immediate investigation into the alleged incident and for perpetrators to be held accountable. That this attack, if found to be true, could go unacknowledged for a year speaks to the important role civil society and media organizations play in helping governments meet their obligations to their people.”

Statistics of actual mass or gang rape of Ambazonian women and girls are difficult to come by for obvious reasons. But there is no doubt, based on concurrent first-hand accounts, that what HRW reports is only the tip of the iceberg. The wartime rape cases reported by HRW points to systematic rape aimed at destroying the identity of the people of the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). It is indistinguishable from the same crime that was perpetrated in Rwanda by Hutu soldiers against Tutsi women and girls, and in Bosnia by Serbian soldiers against Bosnian Muslims.  Incidents of rape by French Cameroun troops in Ambazonia are more frequent than people are aware of or than is generally known. These cases go unreported because surviving victims internalize the occurrences and do not talk about them. Many surviving rape victims do not come forward to tell their traumatic experience because of the shame and stigma associated with the deed. They suffer in silence and bear for years their severely traumatic experience. There are no available local trauma centres providing counselling in private.

Massacres and other murders as well as systematic rape of women and girls are the well-attested shameless methods by which the ‘professional’ and ‘elite’ troops of French Cameroun conduct their colonial war in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). That colonial war claims deaths in tens of thousands. It inflicts suffering, wholesale destruction, refugee flows and other forcible displacement of large numbers of people. It causes gross human rights violations. It creates thousands of orphans, widows, widowers and breaks up family ties. People are systematically subjected to indignity, and to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The world seems inert. The people appear to have resigned themselves to an attitude of fatalistic cynicism. 

Women and girls are forced into sexual relationships by their torturers holding them captives. This results in forced impregnation and contamination with HIV and other sexually transmissible diseases. Women and girls are sometimes gang-raped to death or murdered after being raped to destroy evidence of the deed. Survivors go through emotional and psychological trauma. Rape and defilement are systematically used as a weapon and tactic of war by French Cameroun barbarian troops. They are used explicitly in efforts: to destroy population, to dislocate bonds within families and communities, to maximize humiliation and shame, to break resistance by instilling fear and terror in communities or in freedom fighters, to torture and inflict injury, to extract information, to degrade, to punish the rape victim for some alleged acts by their families, and to vent anger on the people of Ambazonia and humiliate them.

Rape always entails direct physical harm, trauma, and social ostracism for the victim. In many instances, it is also a health death sentence for the victims since they are deliberately infected with HIV and other sexually transmissible infections. Furthermore, gang rape invariably leads to vaginal destruction and traumatic fistula of the vaginal tract, bladder and rectum. Vaginal destruction is now classified as a war crime. Long term medical complication of such rape includes uterine prolapse, serious injury to the reproductive system like infertility or complications associated with miscarriages and self-induced abortions. The central element of rape is power. Rape is thus used to punish, intimidate, coerce, humiliate and degrade Ambazonian female victims and by extension Ambazonian men. As if this is not enough evil, French Cameroun troops enforce a war policy prohibiting treatment for women and girls suffering from war-related rape or other injuries. They violently eject them out of any health facility. The result is fear by affected women and girls to seek medical help. Their condition becomes irremediable. They eventually die in silence.

Rape most often occurs during search operations, during which those troops frequently engage in collective punishment against the civilian population, most often by beating or otherwise assaulting residents, and burning their homes. Rape also occurs frequently during reprisal attacks on civilians following ambushes by freedom fighters. In some cases, the victims are accused of providing food or shelter to freedom fighters or are ordered to identify or disclose the location of their male relatives as freedom fighters. In some attacks the selection of victims is apparently opportunistic and the women, like murdered civilians, are raped simply because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The French Cameroun regime is scared to death of its military and never credibly investigates any rapes or even massacres committed by them. The silence of the regime and its unwillingness to prosecute and punish those responsible leads to the inevitable conclusion that this form of torture is sanctioned as a matter of government policy. At least, the government of that country signals that the practice of rape is tolerated, if not condoned, and encouraged. The regime is in the habit of dismissing reports of massacres, and a fortiori, of rapes. It peddles the lie that its troops act ‘professionally’. The troops themselves habitually eliminate witnesses likely to provide evidence of rapes and massacres. The rape and killing of women and girls are a common occurrence though extremely difficult to document on account of the secrecy of the incidents, lack of pathologist evidence, and difficulty of evidence gathering for rape prosecution. 

Wartime rape is a criminal offence under the international law of war, which also applies to Cameroun. The criminalization of rape under that law is meant to safeguard human dignity. The rape of women and girls is prohibited in armed conflict. It is deemed a war crime under the provisions of international humanitarian law. The jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda characterizes wartime rape as a crime of genocide because of the intent to destroy in whole or in part a particular population group. Furthermore, the systematic mass rape of Ambazonian women and girls meets the statutory definition of systematic harm to a population or ethnical group within the meaning of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.  Persons who commit or order the commission of grave breaches of international humanitarian law are individually responsible in respect of such breaches.

We call for international condemnation of this crime as a violation of international human rights and humanitarian law and appeal to:

•             the international community to make vigorous and repeated representations to French Cameroun government, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in connection with these rapes and other grave human rights violations,

•             all States, organizations and programmes of the UN system, specialized agencies and other international organizations to urgently provide humanitarian assistance to all in need of it in Ambazonia,

•             the UN to urgently take practical measures to assist and counsel the girls and women concerned ,and to mandate investigations into the facts of each individual case, and

•             the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Womento devote particular attention to the issue of rape by French Cameroun troops in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia).

We urge community groups on the ground to continue to ascertain and record the magnitude and extent of rape by the French Cameroun occupying forces in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia).

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

 Pro-independent Leadership Government 

Joshua Osih, an SDF vice president and parliamentarian and a son of Ndian Division in the Southwest region of Cameroon has decided to stir a hornet’s nest even when he is aware of the pressure and disaster he is inviting into his personal and political life.

The SDF MP joined parliamentarians of the ruling crime syndicate, the CPDM, to take American senators to task for calling on the Biden Administration to reconsider the repatriation of Cameroonians from the United States because of the government’s violent military response to protests by the country’s English-speaking minority.

The American senators are criticizing the government of Cameroon for its massive and senseless execution of its own citizens, most of whom are native Southern Cameroonians.

The majority of those being repatriated from the United States are from the English-speaking part of the country where an insurgency has been playing out for four years.

The SDF member of parliament knows that there is a massive and bloody conflict playing out in that part of the country but seems to be in denial of this military violence that the government has unleashed on innocent civilians in that part of the country.

Mr. Osih has had a taste of the challenges ordinary people face in that part of Cameroon but he is clearly buring his head in sand.

The MP’s father died some two years ago and for him to have him buried in his native Ndian Division, he had to pay huge sums of money to insurgents, as the government could not provide the much- needed security in that part of the country.

Mr. Osih’s decision to turn his back on the people of Southern Cameroons has triggered a backlash and even his fellow SDF parliamentarians are chiding him for such a preposterous decision.

The Social Democratic Front (SDF) has called for an emergency meeting to take a look at Osih’s misguided decision which has left the SDF with a bloodshot eye.

Many SDF parliamentarians are bitter and some are openly accusing him of placing his interest above that of the people of Southern Cameroons.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Yaoundé has been talking to some senior officials of the SDF and many of them are calling for Mr. Osih’s dismissal from the party.

He is being accused of cozying up to the government ever since Dion Ngute, the country’s Prime Minister, was appointed by the country’s long-serving and ailing president, Paul Biya, who has ruled the Central African country with an iron fist for almost 40 years with no results to show for his long stay in power.

Mr. Osih and Prime Minister Dion Ngute are from Ndian Division and it is alleged that they are related and this is causing Mr. Osih to embrace the government’s obnoxious policies against Southern Cameroonians who headed to the United States to seek asylum because of the conflict that has been playing out in their part of the country.

“Joshua Osih should be dismissed from the party. He has clearly demonstrated his greed and dishonesty by siding with the ruling party’s members of parliament who have never wanted the Southern Cameroons issue to be discussed in parliament,” an angry SDF Parliamentarian told our correspondent in Yaoundé.

“Every since Dion Ngute got appointed as the country’s Prime Minister, Joshua has shown total disrespect of party rules and he is now disrespecting the suffering people of Southern Cameroons who are being hunted by government forces as game,” the MP said.

“Osih is an embarrassment to the people of Southern Cameroons in particular and of Cameroon in general. He cannot claim he is not aware of the pain the country’s English-speaking minority is facing. How many more Southern Cameroonians have to die before Mr. Osih and the ruling CPDM understand that the Northwest and the Southwest regions are not safe?” the MP quipped.

“Osih wants to be the president of Cameroon and he wants to run on the SDF ticket. With his new mentality, how can he ever win an election in Cameroon, especially in the English-speaking part of Cameroon which is the SDF’s stronghold and where thousands have been killed and millions sent into exile by a government that has never prioritized dialogue over military violence? Osih should be dismissed from the party as he is more of a liability to the SDF,” the Member of Parliament said.

“Osih and his fellow CPDM parliamentarians should have instead written to their president instead of writing to American law-makers who had actually painted a true picture of what is happening in Cameroon. This is a problem that has been going on for years and for Osih to suggest that things are improving in that part of the country is a clear demonstration of dishonesty on his part,” the Cameroon law-maker who elected anonymity said.

“Osih is under enormous pressure and the Southern Cameroons Diaspora which wields a lot of influence is punching him from all directions. He has stirred a hornet’s nest and this is costing him his reputation. This demonstration of poor judgment by an SDF parliamentarian is giving the SDF a very bad name and this will surely affect the party in future elections” the MP regretted. 

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman, Editor-In-Chief

Over the last couple of days, a position statement signed by several colleagues of the National

Assembly including my humble person has been the main topic of discussion on several platforms and news outlets. This document has been subject to various interpretations, generating a lot of controversy on what its noble intentions were.

Given the unprecedented challenges the country faces, we are all called to take our responsibilities and we must boldly take it up when and where necessary. Cynics, in deliberately misunderstanding and misrepresenting the intentions of this document, have also seized the opportunity to peddle innuendos of my collusion with the regime in its poor management of the Anglophone crisis and from seeking to benefit from it. It is this toxic politics, to which we have subjected every aspect of our national life which is at the very heart of the protraction of some of the crisis we face today.

 For the last 4-5 years, political apprentices have used sentimental judgements as a tool to stoke the sympathy of desolate Cameroonians, who have suffered and continue to suffer from various trials but never truly suggest any actual solution to the problems our fellow compatriots face. We will never succeed in building the Cameroon we believe in through such cynicism and in trivialising every debate in the country.

We are faced with several hard choices and we must face up to the truth and make those tough decisions. As famously quoted by Martin Luther King, Jr “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbour will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. “

That said, the position by some members of the Cameroon National Assembly was published on February 22, 2021, in response to a petition from the United States Congress sent on February 17, 2021 by some 40 members of the United States Congress to the Biden administration. This petition was asking the administration to suspend the repatriation of Cameroonians from the United States to Cameroon because conditions in Cameroon continue to worsen as violence continues and the pandemic continues to take its public health and economic toll…

 In matters of parliamentary diplomacy, the position of a parliament is usually entertained by the opposing parliament concerned, providing a response to the position in question except in cases of escalation. It was therefore within our remit, as representatives of the people, to provide a weighted response and seek further methods through which to best engage with these concerned members of the American Congress.

In response therefore, a position was taken on behalf of the Cameroonian Parliament and which can be summarized in its conclusion by the following words, “As legislators, we welcome the genuine expression of concern and support for the well-being of the vast majority of Cameroonians. We urge members of the United States Congress to engage more vigorously to ensure compliance with the international conventions against transnational crime and criminality to which the United States is a signatory and to ensure that their country is not a safe haven for perpetrators and funders of acts of extreme violence and terrorism on the people of Cameroon”.

This response, for those who have taken the time to read it, is both diplomatically correct and courteous. As an unusual first, this document provided a medium of exchange from the Cameroon Parliament with foreign counterparts on a topic that has been the major concern for every Cameroonian, an opportunity I personally welcomed. The document in itself evoked several aspects, which make it foolhardy to read it in a singular context. It is necessary to unpack both statements and answer some questions, while pondering the proposal of “…suspending repatriation flights back to Cameroon…” for the various reasons provided, which include but are not limited to the war in the English-speaking regions.

These questions are:

Firstly, does this de-escalate the ongoing crisis in the country? The answer is a resounding NO!

Should we be encouraging and celebrating more and more Cameroonians who are forced away from the responsibility of building this nation, the comfort of their homes in the hope of seeking asylum in the United States of America? Again, the resounding answer is NO!

Does America provide safe harbour and anchor for the financiers, propagandists and sponsors of the war? Resounding YES!

Have those who have been repatriated so far been subject to any severe treatment besides the psychological, physical and economic cost of their journey, which would have been all but avoided had we the right government in place? Once again, a resounding NO!

Do I feel for such Cameroonians who have been through such unbearable conditions, forced away from home in search of better? Absolutely YES.

Do I feel there is another way we can solicit the support of the Biden Administration to ending the crisis and ensuring that Cameroonians feel welcomed and safe in their very homes? Absolutely YES.

Those are some key questions every patriotic Cameroonian must be asking and to which we must provide true answers. My political goal is not to look for the best means by which to portray the weaknesses of the country, but rather to the best way to resolve its imminent challenges. That is the responsibility I have as a representative of the people and a duty I must uphold.

 I am therefore baffled by the various negative reactions that I have received from this petition. Not that I am surprised by them, but rather by some of the authors of the criticism levied against me. Some have questioned the audacity to question or seem unyielding to a document regarding the state of affairs in Cameroon from the United States.

 Some have questioned why I appended my signature to a ‘CPDM initiated document’ as a member of the opposition and finally some political parasites once again are hoping to gain relevance in the face of the buzz this newsworthy action is making.

When we consider the questions above, our actual challenge becomes evident. We can see how a genuine problem became hostage to the fantasies of some virtual leaders and gun wielding miscreants. From the onset, the Anglophone problem, which enjoyed the full support of every meaningful Cameroonian and to which we formulated the problem question adequately and had a clear roadmap for its resolution, was side-tracked by a group. They hijacked the “struggle” by peddling the idea of an independent country.

 Driven by frustrations and misgivings with the system and the vices we have condemned over such a long period, the idea of an independent country where they could reset and restart afresh was very appealing to several young men and women. They greeted this false believe with so much enthusiasm after giving up all hope and trust in the system. We must not forget the effect of this narrative on the escalation of this crisis. From the moment they embarked on this method, any other position or any other leader was dealt all sorts of derogatory terms.

 Several well-meaning Cameroonians were forced out of this debate because of its toxicity. For those who rightly evoke the absence since the start of this terrible war in the North-West and South-West of a real debate on the issue in the Cameroonian parliament, I would like to begin to reassure them that I am offended as much as they are by this inexplicable incongruity maintained by the CPDM majority. In their short-sightedness, they never imagined the impact the SDF debate on the crisis would have brought about. We petitioned and revolted on the floor of parliament and today they see the need to take action. By this therefore, we would call for more discussions on the floor of parliament on the crisis.

The SDF to which I belong is for a strong Cameroon, united in its diversity through a federal system set up with a broad consensus and which gives pride of place to local development and the enhancement of the specificities of its components in a participatory and inclusive democracy.

 We are for a true inclusive dialogue to resolve the crisis in the North West and South West. Our social democratic and progressive values are for peace all over the country and we carry values which dictate to us that there can be no real and lasting peace without justice and this justice knows no borders. The SDF has given its all to try to bring peace to the North West and South West regions for the past five years in a deadly conflict in which we are not a party but for which we are paying an immeasurable price. This, however, will not deter us from sticking to our democratic fundamentals enshrined in our internal constitution.

Party members should therefore not be drawn into this sentimental expressions and futile debates fanned by political lackeys. To do politics is to have political ideas, a political program, a clear vision of the economic and social mix that you want for your country. Political life is the confrontation of these ideas and these programs. Let’s talk and debate about ideas.

Let us be focused and reflect together on the fundamental problems of our society and propose to the electorate a program based on socio-democratic and progressive values to solve them. This is what the SDF should be for the days and weeks to come. This is my vision.

 Conserving old positions divides, adopting change unites. I live my political struggle as a divine blessing. Being misunderstood, stigmatized, or just fought is an inseparable part of this fight. I am for the unity of all the political forces of the left, of all the progressives. I am for a strong and united SDF. Only the struggle liberates and together we win.

Hon. Joshua N. Osih

Member of Parliament